Dune: Denis Villeneuve says third film would be Dune Messiah

We’ve been hearing for a long time that director Denis Villeneuve’s film Dune, which will be reaching theatres and the HBO Max streaming service on October 22nd, is only an adaptation of the first half of Frank Herbert’s novel Dune. For now, Villeneuve is hoping that Dune: Part 2 will be given a greenlight so he’ll be able to bring the rest of the story to the screen. And if that works out, he already knows what he wants Dune: Part 3 to be. If you’re familiar with Herbert’s novels, it probably makes sense to you that the third film would be an adaptation of the second novel in the series, Dune Messiah (pick up a copy HERE).

When Dune adaptations were being made for television in the early 2000s, the Dune mini-series was followed by a mini-series that combined adaptations of both Dune Messiah and the third book in the series, Children of Dune.

Speaking with CBC’s Radio Canada, Villeneuve said:

There is Dune’s second book, The Messiah of Dune, which could make an extraordinary film. I always saw that there could be a trilogy; after that, we’ll see. It’s years of work; I can’t think of going further than that.”

Herbert wrote enough Dune novels that the franchise could very easily continue beyond three films. Following Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune are God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, and Chapterhouse: Dune.

In addition to the Villeneuve films, there’s also an HBO Max series in the works titled Dune: The Sisterhood, which will center on the mysterious group called the Bene Gesserit.

Scripted by Villeneuve, Eric Roth, and Jon Spaihts, Dune: Part 1 stars Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides, “a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding” who

must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet’s exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence – a commodity capable of unlocking humanity’s greatest potential – only those who can conquer their fear will survive.

Chalamet’s co-stars include Oscar Issac as Paul’s father Duke Leto Atreides; Rebecca Ferguson as Paul’s mother Lady Jessica; Josh Brolin as troubadour-swordsman Gurney Halleck; Jason Momoa as swordmaster Duncan Idaho; Javier Bardem as helpful tribe leader Stilgar; Stellan Skarsgård as the villainous Baron Harkonnen; Dave Bautista as the brutish “Beast” Rabban; David Dastmalchian as the twisted Piter De Vries; Sharon Duncan-Brewster as ecologist Doctor Liet Kynes; Charlotte Rampling as the emperor’s truthsayer Reverend Mother Mohiam; Chang Chen as physician Dr. Yueh; Stephen McKinley Henderson as Thufir Hawat, Master of Assassins for House Atreides; and Zendaya as Chani, “a mystery woman who haunts Paul in his dreams”.